City, aviation department hit with suit over severing of woman's fingers, thumb

A woman is suing the city and its aviation department, claiming their negligence led her to lose two fingers and a thumb while working at O'Hare Airport.

Margarita Duncan filed a lawsuit Sept. 30 in the Cook County Circuit Court against the City of Chicago and the Chicago Department of Aviation.

According to the complaint, Duncan was an employee of United Maintenance Co. working under contract with O'Hare Airport and was driving a work cart through two steel doors in Terminal 1 on Oct. 8, 2013, when the left door closed, severing two of her fingers and thumb from her left hand.

The defendants are accused of being negligent in failing to inspect the doors and maintain them for the safety of people using them.

Duncan is being represented in the case by attorneys Michael P. Cogan and Jon C. Papin of Cogan & Power PC in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court case number: 2014L010187

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.